A sheet loading device which has a sheet loading part on which a plurality of sheets are loaded and in which the sheets are fed from the sheet loading part is suitably used, for example, in image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers, facsimiles or multi-function machines having the foregoing functions. In an image forming apparatus, sheets are fed one by one from the sheet loading device to the image forming unit. Subsequently, an image is formed on the sheet in the image forming unit.
Conventionally, with this kind of sheet loading device, the sheet loading part in which the sheets are loaded has a cassette structure that can be pulled out from the image forming apparatus body in order to replenish the sheets to be used. The sheet loading part has a pair of guide members for restricting the displacement of the sheets in the width direction in order to stabilize the feeding of the sheets. The pair of guide members is formed, in many cases, to be movable in the width direction of the sheets. The guide members are provided with a rack having a teeth part formed in a predetermined pitch in the sheet width direction. Moreover, the bottom part of the sheet loading part is provided with a pinion gear which engages with the teeth part. Of the pair of guide members, when one guide member is moved in the sheet width direction, the moving force thereof is transmitted to the other guide member by means of the engagement of the teeth part of the rack and the pinion gear. Thus, the pair of guide members moves in conjunction with each other in mutually opposite directions. Consequently, the positions of the guide members are adjusted with respect to the plurality of types of sheets having different sheet widths respectively.
The width of the sheets loaded in the sheet loading part has a predetermined tolerance. In other words, even if the sheets are of the same type, the sheet width is slightly different for each sheet. Thus, in order to prevent the width direction end of a sheet having a slightly wide width from coming into contact with the guide member and buckling, the fixed position of the guide member needs to be determined in consideration of the maximum tolerance of the sheets in the width direction. Consequently, a gap is generated between the guide member and the sheets in many cases.
The present disclosure has been devised in order to resolve the foregoing problem, and an object of this disclosure is to provide a sheet loading device which realizes the accurate positioning of sheets in the width direction, and an image forming apparatus having the foregoing sheet loading device.